MovieChat Forums > Art School Confidential (2006) Discussion > From the perspective of an Art student.....

From the perspective of an Art student....

posted 18 years ago by Rowi111
85 replies | jump to latest

This movie made me feel almost insulted, even though I'm not the typical P.C. type person. I realize it's all in fun, and I'm not uptight. I got the impression that most people would know that this movie's portrayal wasn't accurate, just fun. But it seems some people are taking this crap in.

Towards the end the movie becomes less about fun, and more about how you have to "suck someones ______", or do something else to get attention, to make it in the Art world. This can be true at times, as with anything in life (sadly).

But the most frustrating thing to me about the movie, was his class. In a typical Art School classroom, you would see a thousand drawings like his self-portrait. Art teachers ARE looking for something different. But here it is made out that no one could actually draw or paint, every one just wanted to make a statement by throwing crap on canvas. Honestly, the blonde guy's paintings? Come on...If you sat in on a real Art class, you would see some really good, original work, something you didn't see in this movie.

But this is how the movie builds sympathy for the main character. We all end up saying "he's really good, what are they thinking?" When in reality he's as original as an American Idol contestant(come on, there are people out there who write, play, and sing their own songs better...sorry) . Honestly, his work sucked because there was nothing but talent behind it, not originality; I hate to see talent wasted.

Donnie: Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?
Frank: Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?

[–] the_ventura 18 years ago

I was an engineering student at university and never ventured close to the art department for fear I would run into people like those stereotypes. Its interesting to read these posts from people in those circles that actually agree its portrayal of art and artists is actually fairly accurate. I've never really understood art, if anything I always thought it was more the physical expression of your personal inner thoughts and feelings and hence wouldn't have any or at least its original meaning to someone else. I can't understand how people can look at art in a gallery and feel something, or be able to judge its merits. I would only ever own a painting or sculpture if it was a gift and then its only significance would be its presence reminding me of a friend or event and not the actual content of the piece of art.

From my non-art technical background I guess I could logically determine where Jerome was coming from. He was asked to draw what he saw, his drawings were closer to photo accuracy than anyone else and hence he concluded that he was therefore more talented and deserved a better grade. To hear that some of the *beep* people spun would have flown in real life art courses just hardens my thinking that art can't and shouldn't be taught. Sure you can teach and grade things like art history and you can teach (but not really grade) skills like perspective and anatomy etc. But in general I've thought that anyone who goes to an institution to learn to do something that is subjective is really only wasting their time and money and should instead just spend it being prolific and learning through doing without the critiques of others.

[–] ninetymin 18 years ago

Aww. C'mon. You must have some interest in art. Why would you read over 30 posts from artistically inclined people if you didn't have any interest in art?

Seriously, there is a really high demand for art in society. It is imaginative, colorful, interesting, and makes the mind stop for a little bit. Are you saying you never saw a poster, or painting, or drawing, sculpture or photograph that took you into another world?

Even Einstein said, "imagination is more important than knowledge."

[–] Otto-Phocus 18 years ago

sometimes art is just an interesting image, or even, gasp!, a pretty picture.
Everyone can find a little joy in that.

[–] bringhope13 18 years ago

actually, the irony is that all the artwork is real artwork by students at i believe otis college of arts on the west coast.

[–] lockemaison 18 years ago

i don't know what kind of art school you went to. although i'm guessing you went to a technical art school where people were actually talented. good choice.

i went to an art school just like strathmore, one of the most respected in the country too. and aside from people being so interested in gallery shows (none of my classmates were interested in being famous gallery artists in freshman year), this movie was DEAD ON accurate with the critique scenes, the people, and most importantly, the art. Pictures of genitals, crappy drawings - the whole shebang.

Serious contemporary art schools are all about concept, not skill. Frankly I should have gone to a 2 year technical college and learned all about computer graphic arts, which is what i do now anyway. But still, going to school for it would have been so much more helpful instead of the "real" art school I went to.

Don't get me wrong, I think it was an invaluable experience and it introduced me to things I am glad to have seen. My world is so much more enriched by it and I don't regret it, in all seriousness, no joking. But in terms of actual usefulness? Zero. Was it what I wanted to do? Nope. I really did want to be a technical artist. I totally agree with the movie.

So yeah, you are lucky you actually had technically good art classmates. Because from my experience and from stories of almost all art college students around the country, our experiences all seem almost exactly the same and this movie captures that experience almost perfectly. You obviously didn't go to a "real" art school.

[–] DominieDirtch 18 years ago

I'm an art student who does realistic, technical pieces, and I thought this movie was hilarious, and more on the spot than most would like to admit!

[–] veviheartsfilm 18 years ago

what the *beep* people? now i dont really want to go to art school.

i'm a only a junior in highschool and my art classes art much better than this movie and all you college people say its right on? my art teachers wouldnt go for that *beep* if something is crap we all state it in the critique and then the person can either agree or stand up for themselves. then we tell them how to make it better in their own ways. there is none of that masking bull. if something is good technically it is said, and if something is good creatively it is said. ive gotten pounded about a piece but i knew it wasnt good and i knew that i had no motivation to make it so it was fine, ive also gotten critiqued on my best peice but everyone still loved it and it was good. but the critique made me make it better. and almost no one is all sappy pappy traditional art student. everyone is different and creative in different ways. although there are still the people who love traditional art but they arent all emo art student. it made me frustrated to hear this stuff from college art students.

what do you have to say for yourselves?

[–] themightyperm 18 years ago

College is 99% BS kid, Especially Art School, I found this movie dead on, and i couldn't stop laughing, its when the movie went from funny to serious that it lost me. I'm pretty sure Art schools are different depending one where you are. This one was just like my UofA one. 99% BS

[–] brianvds 18 years ago

Veviheartsfilm wrote:
"what the *beep* people? now i dont really want to go to art school."

Well, just avoid modernist art 'schools.' But there are real art schools out there. See this site for details:

www.artrenewal.org

Modernist art is the biggest con game perpetrated on society since televangelists. And judged by the messages I see here, it has done a lot of damage to art in general. I see, for example, someone saying that Jerome doesn't need much more training in things like drawing and perspective, and needs to 'move on.' This shows me just how standards have slipped: the irony is that while Jerome is certainly talented and shows a lot of promise, by the standards of classical art, his drawings are not even all that great. They would probably be good enough to get him into first year level at a realist art academy.

I also noticed an engineer expressing his confusion with modernist art. I commiserate. But his idea that art cannot be taught is dead wrong. It can. You just need better teachers than the con men so hilariously lampooned in this film.

Fortunately, it seems as if society is slowly beginning to see through the little deception. Perhaps in another decade or two, the trash currently occupying our great art museums will be thrown out into the dumpsters where it belongs, and we might once again see some real art.

[–] aqib4 18 years ago

I thought this was a good satire on the NYC art school culture, although you would be hard pressed to ever see an art school model as attractive as Audrey.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] suger_puff_ 16 years ago

I totally agree. Thanks so much for the website as well!
I'm in art school in England at the moment, and trust me, the stereotypes stand true there too. We spent our first drawing class doing 'blind' drawing, where you draw an object without looking at the paper. It was fun at all, but I just assumed at the time that it was a kind of relaxation exercise to get our selves into the swing of things. It wasn't. We spent the whole class doing this, and then the teacher went around critiquing our work. She wasn't very positive about most of the class, but she LOVED my bunch of scribbles. She kept on telling me how if I had drawn these on more high quality paper I could show them in galleries. The blind drawings weren't good drawings, and they were extremely easy to do, so obviously I had no idea why I was getting so much praise for literally making scribbles on a piece of paper. A bit of my soul died that day.
Another moment that I recall all too vividly was during peer assessments. Actually there were many moments during peer assessments. One that really stands out was when we were showing around our sketchbooks. One woman showed us hers and actually said this: "I can't draw, so I just did these scribbles over these pictures." The thing was that while I was trying not to laugh in her face everyone else ate it up, and stared discussing what her work represented. Subsequently, the drawing teacher came over and started really praising her. I guess she likes scribbles.
Then there was the girl who REALLY WANTED TO MAKE IT IN THE ART WORLD! She showed us her sketchbook, but there was barely any of her own work in there. It was filled with "research", in other words printouts of other artist's work. Then we went up stairs where she showed us her installation. There were three canvases on the wall, and then three or four molds of herrings. The canvases and the herring molds were all covered in multi colored globs of paint, and for some reason this was intended to represent eugenics.
The best advice I think I can give to aspiring artists is to get private lessons from a practicing artist who you respect and whose work you admire.
This website restored my faith in the art world: http://beinart.org/artists/ It's got allot of crazy stuff, but it's technically incredible.

[–] supercat-1 17 years ago

<i>i'm a only a junior in highschool and my art classes art much better than this movie and all you college people say its right on?</i><p>

If a high school student presented a piece like Gerhard Richter's "Grey" (2.5m x 1.95m of uniformly grey canvas), he would be well-deservedly derided. For some reason, though, many people seem incapable of judging whether a high-level artist exhibits as much real artistic talent as a competent high-school student.

I do find it curious that Picasso is so admired. Basically what he did was publicize the fact that one if one declared quick hack-job paintings to be "the new style" one could make boatloads of money with far less work than would be required to do quality paintings. With the invention and improvements of photography, he--along with art dealers who wanted to have lots of product to sell--convinced people that realistic painting was cliche'.

The reality is that a good realistic painting will be better than a photograph, since a photograph is a moment in time captured from one static vantage point with one fixed focal length. When people view a scene, their eyes shift position in focus as they're looking around; the scene they're looking at may change also as they're watching. A good painting will have a life and depth beyond that of a photograph, depending upon how well the artist predicts people's shifting gaze.

[–] lockemaison 16 years ago

i have to agree with the other guy, no matter what major you are in for college, a lot of it is BS. It just so happens in art school it is rampant.

I had NO clue this is what art school would be like. I went straight to art college without any training or classes. So I had really no idea. It was a lot of fun and very easy but at the same time it was really useless when it came to technical side of things.

I recommend you research very carefully the kind of art school you go to. Even if it is a 4 year school that is very 'high concept' like the one in the movie (and the one I went to) you have to remember, some schools are only like that for the first year and then when you get to your real major, like say you decided on graphic design or computer art, then this kind of thing will stop happening and you will have a regular education. Although it still might be the same no matter what. So like I said, do research, ask people on email or forums about the schools you want to go to how they are. When I was your age the internet didn't exist like today so I went in completely blind and didn't know what I was in store for. Use the web to learn about your choices ASAP.

In fact, when we first got there, they said to us the first year would be like this and that it was like a "test" to see how many people would stick around and be serious about learning art for 4 years.

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[–] StuBoy23 17 years ago

I'm not that good at what I do, but at least I try to do things well. I see so many people in my class turning out crap, yet they get praise for it.

Yeah, they're getting the assignments done, but they're crap.
Sometimes I feel like screaming. Art is such BS.

-------------------
True fans own the DVD's

[–] icarryyourheart 17 years ago

I'm an art student too.
I agree with the part where you said the students didn't give a crap about what
they had put on paper- only making a statement.
Yes, if you were in a real art class on critique day, you would see good stuff.
This is because if your heart is in it and you have talent- you'll do good.
Soldemly do I care about impressing others.
I steal from my teachers and others to have personal growth.
People aren't always going to be there to pat your back.
But you will have to know how to persuade- not necessarily kiss ass.
The only people that I see that actually try to impress are the kiss assers of the class.
But I do see an inner drive to be better in them- being the teacher's pet is just a really really good perk for them.
I just can't be a brown noser.
I just try to put what I see in my mind's eye in the natural world.
And when I do do that, I feel so good and proud and happy.
Because what I design comes from my heart which teamed up with my brain.
And if I feel it in my heart, I want to put it in real form.
And if I can accomplish that, I feel happy about my accomplishment.

I wasn't offended by this movie.
It was a fair movie.
The guy reminds me of my ex.

[–] HollyHop 17 years ago

I really struggled at art class because I had developed comic book skills. I draw close to realistic type of figures but with some exaggeration of facial expressions and human features (not caricatures).
I didn't get an good grade before the third year when we had an comic book assignment.
The first two years our teatchers had "pets". Damn annoying. Our third teacher seemed to tired to put a lot energy into petting someone.

[–] onward-still 17 years ago

reading these posts makes me realize that this movie, though making good points and critiquing the art community well, was completely misunderstood and misperceived. How sad.

I've been in tons of art classes and though there's some great students I've met, they don't out-weigh the tons of over dramatic, narcissistic, self-important, and dispassionate ones that take up most of the seats. The scenes wouldn't have made any sense if there was the main character in the class peppered with a few good artists who shared his point of view. Wouldn't that kind of draw away from the impression the movie was trying to give that he felt alienated?

The same goes for the art work as well. Besides the fact that no matter what art work was presented in the movie there's no way for it to be accepted by Everyone who watches it as to whether it was "good" or "bad". So cut them some slack on that.